Greetings!
With a certain amount of regret, we left the vibrant city
and amazingly bountiful desert of Tucson behind us. Now we sink into the subtle
majesty and stately grace of New Mexico. True to its motto, New Mexico is a
"Land of Enchantment" and we adjust our pace to the easy saunter of
Albuquerque. It is fully the time of spring renewal here: buds have transformed
into blossoms, dead-looking trees are finding their leaves again, bulbs are
sending up hopeful green shoots, and the bunnies, well they're doing what
bunnies do. We hope your life also becomes the best it can be as the end of
winter becomes the optimistic promise of spring. ~
Brian and Andi
Wish You Were Here
"Oh, no, the sign says they're closed."
"No, look, the door is ajar and someone just went
in. Let's check and see."
This is how our brief visit began to a 93-year Tucson
institution known as Poblano Hot Sauce Inc. Hidden in a series of clean but
nondescript warehouses is the business begun by Nicolas Segura back in 1924.
His son and now his grandson have carried on the tradition of grinding, concocting,
bottling and shipping various red and green hot sauces, the family business producing
about 1000 bottles a day. On the morning we let ourselves into the dim, boxy room,
only grandson Oscar Segura and his sister were there. They were not really open
to the public at that moment because their inventory was low, but they were
glad to sell us 6 bottles of green sauce, placing the shrink-wrap collars
around the bottle necks and
heating them with a hair dryer to seal, then
dropping them into a divided shipping box. At that moment, the one-room factory
only had one bottle of red jalapeno sauce available, so we bought that, too.
After all, we have to get it while we can because the recipe is a secret, a
secret that very nearly died with Grandpa Nicolas, who passed away only three
days after finally explaining his methods to his son. Although some enlightened
stores around the country carry these special salsas, we enjoyed going to the
source and consider this another reason to anticipate our next visit to Tucson.
If you can't make it to Tucson, you may order your own bottles of hot sauce
here: https://www.acaciart.com/galleries/poblano/
Life on the Road
Laugh if you must, but we are not ashamed to say that we
enjoy learning a good deal of what we know about the areas we visit by reading
regional fiction authors. Our introduction to the Navajo culture was courtesy
of Tony Hillerman's fine tribal police mysteries featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim
Chee. Ditto the Ute detective series with big Charlie Moon written by James
Doss and the Thurlo books about Navajo investigator Ella Clah, whose badger
totem around her neck warms when danger is near. The "Anasazi
Mysteries" trilogy by the Gears alternated between the past and present,
bringing the intriguing and spiritual ruins at Chaco Canyon to life for us.
J.A. Jance writes about many locations but as we were driving through southern
Arizona, we listened to an audio book starring Joanna Brady, the fictional
sheriff of Arizona's Cochise County. Now that we are in Albuquerque, we are
drawn to Adolfo Anaya, highly respected for his contributions to Chicano
literature and author of local mysteries that swirl between the spirit world
and our own. Thoughtful, well-informed fiction is a fun shortcut to
understanding customs, cultures, locations and histories of different people
and lands. But if you just want a fun romp in Key West, try a little something
by Laurence Shames.
Did You Know?
Albuquerque is located in the Rio Grande Rift, a valley
formed tens of millions of years ago by geologic forces that pulled the earth's
crust apart, creating a lower, thinner area. The rift reaches from southern
Colorado to northern Mexico and is one of only about four active rift valleys
in the world. Active, yes, but widening at a rate of about .5 to 2 millimeters
per year. By comparison, the San Andreas Fault out west slithers about 4 inches
every year.
Adios, California!
Coffee Chat
St. David's Day is observed on March 1st by those of us who
chose to celebrate their Welsh heritage. For the rest of the country, St.
Patrick's Day on the 17th is the party excuse of choice. We are in the habit of
boiling up some cabbage, onion, carrots, potatoes and meat, a tradition we
maintained even during the years we camped for long periods in our VW bus.
During the 13 months of our initial US tour, St. Patrick's Day found us at the
Grand Canyon for the first time. We had not realized what an impact the
7000-foot elevation would make on the climate and found ourselves cooking outside
in the falling snow. Undeterred, we not only prepared a hot, tasty meal but we
had the good fortune to be camped near a group of cheerful, tenting college
kids on spring break. In a spare bowl, we dished up a generous serving of
steaming food, which they gratefully shared around their campfire. Sharing the
bounty; that is the most rewarding part of any St. Patrick's Day tradition.
Now Hear This!
Good news – our new Native Flute CD is selling well at
our concerts. In case you missed the announcement in our last Buzz, you may
check out the CD "Canyons and Crossroads" with a free listen on
Spotify. Discs or downloads made be purchased from CDBaby.
Albuquerque then and now....
The view down the neatly trimmed fairway from the first tee was bordered by tall evergreens with a scenic backdrop of Olympic Mountain, still touched with snow on the 26th of July. It was day number one for a brand new 18-hole course, not for regular golf but for our relatively new passion, disc golf. We had the pleasure of witnessing the culmination of an 11-year process that created the Rainshadow Disc Golf Park a few miles east of Sequim on the Olympic Peninsula. In searching for courses to play near our cabin in the north woods, we had come across an internet invitation to attend the opening ceremony of this newest Clallam County Park. After years of planning and land acquisition, the past 5 years were spent gouging a course out of convoluted, brushy, thickly timbered wilderness. The work crew included park volunteers, University of Washington students, county inmates, neighbors with chainsaws and backhoes, Port Angeles Disc Golf Association members and even the Boy Scouts! At 11:00am under blue skies, we joined about 40 disc golf enthusiasts to perch on folding chairs for brief opening statements amplified by a tiny generator-operated PA system. Remarks of gratitude flowed freely as we sipped our complimentary bottles of ice water and pounded our hands together in appreciation. When it came time to "cut the ribbon" we circled around a disc golf goal and after a countdown of "3 - 2 - 1" we simultaneously threw a hailstorm of discs towards the basket. 
As mementos of the occasion, small souvenir discs used as placement markers on the course were distributed. Finally, the years of work were over and the play could begin. The crowd needed no encouragement and bright plastic discs began to fly.
Did You Know?
